DEVGRU-P have announced their “real time tactics visual novel” Unconventional Warfare has launched its Kickstarter campaign.
Developed by Nightlife Strangers, the game takes place in an alternate Earth during 1925, and during the civil war of the nation of Andarushia. When your plane crashes into a field within the war-torn nation, you get caught up in helping a rag-tag group of survivors to get to safety.
While these survivors may seem cute, they can learn to defend themselves. Each also have their own long-suppressed internal conflicts to deal with. As detailed in the press kit, players can enter optional quests to explore this, and change the game’s story, and even ending.
Gameplay revolves around three main components. Combat, marching and setting up camp, and meeting and recruiting new characters.
Described as “A fusion of real-time and turn based combat,” players can pause battles to execute their orders, “while still facing threats like dodging enemy grenades for a tense and realistic combat experience.”
The focus is the game’s strategies is around positioning and flanking. “Careless strategies such as stacking your units behind a single piece of cover and trading shots with enemies in cover will just waste ammo or even get your soldiers killed.”
How smart the opposing AI will be can be seen, not just through how aggressive they are, but also their uniforms.
Another major factor is morale, which degrades under suppressive fire, or even when shots miss. Players can also change a soldiers’ stance, “each stance providing pros & cons such as changing the soldier’s profile, aim & movement speed.”
Players will also have access to explosives or tanks, for times when an aggressive approach is needed to break through. You can even capture and repair enemy tanks that have been abandoned or destroyed, for your own use.
While camping, players can eat, sleep, maintain their weapons, repair vehicles, do target practice, and even transfuse blood. However, they may also wish to dig trenches and build defenses, as enemies can raid the camp. Not to mention there will be difficult choices, such as how to distribute limited food supplies.
The press kit delves into blood transfusions more. The game’s “blood based HP system,” means that character’s HP is based on real world values via milliliters of blood based on height, weight, and gender.
This also means there is no instant healing in combat. Players can only stop bleeding, and rely on proper recovery after battle. Transfusion can also be used as a means to help the weakest members, even if the total blood among the whole squad is not increased.
As you can imagine, moving around a country in the middle of civil war can be fraught with peril. Players must choose carefully where to proceed, or risk hazards and enemy encounters. Though some events can be helpful. Events are randomized, so no two playthroughs will be the same.
The nine characters can also be assigned classes and subclasses to help with specific roles. They can also freely change their abilities at any time (if they have enough experience). “This means that you can tailor your squad’s skills for each individual battle.”
These characters can also be armed with WW1 gear and weapons, which is displayed in their artwork. However, each have their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to effectiveness, reliability, maintenance needs, as well rate of fire, damage, effective range, and more.
You can find the profile on the characters that have been revealed below:
The Kickstarter rewards include a physical or digital copy of the game, your name in the credits, a keychain, designing a weapon or piece of gear, a 2.5D Figure, designing a 3D enemy, a digital artbook, designing a tank, or becoming a character in the game.
You can find the breakdown of the reward tiers below:
The developers also state that 100% of the Kickstarter money raised (aside from Kickstarter and payment processing fees) will go into development of the game.
“We’d like to make it clear that 100% of the funds from this Kickstarter campaign (minus mandatory Kickstarter and other payment processing fees) go directly towards the cost of development for Unconventional Warfare. We are proud to partner with a publisher who takes no cut of the money we raise during this campaign. This allows more of your money to go towards making UW as amazing as possible!”
A demo is also currently available on Steam. You can find the full rundown (via the Steam Demo) below:
In 1925, decades of instability and corruption crumbled the once-strong foundations of Andarushia, plunging the nation into a turbulent civil war. The world turned a blind eye, ignoring the escalating atrocities, and so did you. That is, until your military plane crashed into the fiery plains of a country out for blood. Now trapped in hostile territory, you must apply your extensive military knowledge to not only survive, but lead a small band of inexperienced survivors to safety.
Features :
- Have you ever dreamed of commanding your own troop of charming girls(and guys)? This is your chance!
- A fusion of real-time and turn based combat allows you to assess the battlefield, give orders and execute rapid action.
- Command a squad of misfits through intense battles as they combat their own inner turmoil.
- Choose from various WW1 and interwar era weapons, tanks and equipment to customize over 10 unique characters.
- Two playable game modes available from launch: story campaign and sandbox modes
- And more to come!
The Kickstarter for Unconventional Warfare ends March 30th. As of this time of writing, the Kickstarter has raised $1,091 USD out of its $20,000 USD goal.
